Welcome To The New Age
by SheepInWolfsClothing
Summary: "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper." Taylor's left alone at the end of the world and bumps into someone that might be able to help her out.
1. One

**_Title: _**_Welcome To the New Age  
__**Rating: **__T for language, violence and gore.  
__**Summary: **__"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper." Taylor's left alone at the end of the world and bumps into someone that might be able to help her out. __**  
Warnings:**__ Violence, language, character death, blood and gore, original character (in case that wasn't clear), racial slurs.  
__**Beta: **__None, all mistakes are mine.  
__**Disclaimer:**__ I am in no way affiliated with AMC, The Walking Dead or its cast. I'm just a fan who's playing in the sandbox.  
__**Author's Notes: **__I don't even know what's going on here, if I'm frank. I was reading through some fanfics while listening to Imagine Dragons' song Radioactive on repeat and this sort of… appeared. Any and all forms of __**constructive **__criticism are welcome, as well as any other comments you might have! I'd love to know what you think of Taylor, and if you think Glenn's in character. I had a little trouble writing him so I'm not sure. I hope you enjoy it!_

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**One**

**_(Because everything has to start somewhere.)_**

Taylor was perched on top of one of the numerous apartment buildings in Atlanta, bow held loosely in her hands as she adjusted the quiver of arrows on her back. She was safe up there, high where she couldn't be seen or smelt with her bow as protection. Her fingertips brushed lightly over the handle of the knife she had pickpocketed from one of the corpses she had dropped early on into the epidemic.

Life in Atlanta wasn't exactly ideal after the outbreak – and that was one hell of an understatement. The life she had known and loved had been ripped away violently, taking with it the remainder of her innocence. That life had been replaced with a new one where the dead rose to eat the living and she was on her own, hiding on rooftops for safety.

The end of the world as she knew it had changed her to the core. Her sole focus was on surviving because she had promised her mother that she would, and partly because she felt like every day she made it by was saying a big 'fuck you' to the universe. She was a lot darker than the happy woman she had been, but then, who wasn't darker these days?

Taylor sighed, scouring the streets as she ate her meagre breakfast. She had been on this building for three days now and it was high time she moved again, but she was reluctant to do so. Her body ached with a bone deep exhaustion, fighting against the trials she was putting herself through and the lack of sleep. She sighed again, finishing her breakfast before gathering up her things.

She slung the worn duffel that contained everything she owned over her shoulder, sliding her bow into the quiver where it could be easily reached before she started down the fire escape. It was quicker than going through the floors of the buildings and safer. There was a smaller chance of running into the dead going down the fire escape than attempting to make her way through the building.

She landed on the ground quickly, making barely on noise. They were attracted to noise and the last thing Taylor wanted was to attract them. She withdrew her bow again, nocking an arrow just in case. She crept down the alley she was in, peering down the street. She counted five corpses all in all, a frown tugging her lips. After a moment, she blew out a quiet breath and raised her bow, pulling back the bowstring before letting her arrow fly. She watched it slam into the corpses' head with a small smirk before letting another four arrows loose.

The corpses were on the ground before they had a chance to realise what was happening. After taking another look around, Taylor walked into the street, bow at the ready as she gathered the arrows she had used and returned them to the quiver. While she could make arrows if she ever ran out, she would prefer to have as many on hand as possible and she was already starting to run low.

She made her way through the city, sticking to alleys and quiet streets where only a few corpses lingered and were easily dealt with. Taylor had gotten good at sneaking through the alleys out of necessity; there were too many corpses around to run through the main streets without attracting attention. She had seen what had happened to those that attracted attention.

She was almost at the building she had decided would be her home for the next few days when she ran into something. Her knife was out in a flash – her bow was no use in such close contact and besides, it had flown out of her hand upon contact – and readied herself to slam the blade into the thing's head when she realised the body beneath her was _talking_.

Leaning back a little, Taylor frowned at the man she was perched on. The man was very alive and more than a little terrified, judging by the expression on his face. She huffed irritably, hiding her excitement at seeing another living person close up for the first time in a month and a half. She couldn't afford to let herself get excited; the world was a rougher place and she had no idea if this man was going to be friendly or a foe. She clambered off of him, hauling him to his feet without prompt before grabbing her bow and taking a few steps back.

"Oh my God, I thought you were going to kill me!" the man hissed, the fear not really leaving his face.

Taylor rolled her eyes, even as she inwardly approved of his quietness. He was smarter than some that had wandered into the city. "I was going to," she said flippantly, inspecting her bow for any marks. "Thought you were one of _them_."

The guy nodded, pulling off his hat and running his hand through dark hair before replacing it. "You, uh, pulled that knife pretty quickly," he noted, peering at her.

She returned her knife to its customary place in her belt but kept her bow out, an arrow already nocked. "If I didn't react quickly I'd be dead by now," she replied, finally looking at the man straight on. "What are you doing in the city? Don't you know it's not safe?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "You're here," he pointed out. At her silence, he shrugged and answered, "I'm getting supplies for my camp. I know Atlanta better than anybody else so getting supplies is usually my job."

Taylor snorted, shaking her head as she looked down the street, casting her eyes around in search of any danger. "Looks like you drew the short straw there," she murmured when she was satisfied the street was still empty.

"Yeah," the man agreed with a sigh, falling silent for a moment. "I'm Glenn."

She swung her head around to see Glenn smiling at her a little warily. "Taylor," she said after a pause. "My name's Taylor."

"Nice to meet you, Taylor." When she simply nodded in reply, Glenn frowned a little before asking, "So, I told you why I'm in the city. Why are you here?"

Taylor ran a hand along the smooth wood of her bow absently. "I live here," she said blankly. "I couldn't get out when the outbreak hit, so I hid - you know how it was. Haven't left town since."

"You _live _here?" Glenn pressed incredulously after a beat of stunned silence. "On your own? Isn't that a little dangerous?"

She shrugged. "I haven't died yet."

Honestly, it _was_ dangerous. Atlanta had been manageable in the first two weeks or so. There were a lot of corpses, sure, but they stuck to mostly the same areas and the military had been dealing with it. After the city was overrun, it was a little worse but still manageable. After a month and half, though? The corpses were spread out, and there were a lot of them, and food and water were in short supply. It was harder to navigate the streets and harder still to find safe buildings to camp out.

"That doesn't mean it's safe!" Glenn protested a little too loudly for her comfort.

"Quiet," she snarled lowly. She stuck her head out of the alley, checking there were no corpses nearby before turning her eyes to Glenn. "You think I don't realise this is dangerous? Of course I do. I've seen people get ripped to shreds by the corpses. I've had a plenty of close calls, myself. But there are more supplies here than out on the road, and where the hell would I go, huh? I haven't got anywhere to go and nobody to go with," she bit out heatedly.

"You could come to my camp," he suggested after a moment. "Shane – he's the leader, I guess – he said if we find any survivors to bring them back. We could use the help."

"And the extra mouth to feed?" she shot back, taken back by his abrupt offer. Though she had been hoping to maybe get some help off of the guy, she had in no way expected an offer to go to his camp.

"We'd do alright," Glenn said with a shrug. "Sure, food's a little scarce but there's always enough to go around."

Taylor straightened out, blinking at him unsurely. "What's the catch?" There had to be a catch. People didn't just go around throwing out offers for safety these days.

"No catch," he insisted. "We're kind of going for the whole safety in numbers thing, and you look like you can take care of yourself. You must be able to if you've lasted this long in Atlanta. We could do with the help keeping camp safe, and there are always chores to do."

She stared at him for a long moment, tilting her head to the side as her brows knitted together. She ran a hand over her bow again in a nervous movement. "You serious?" she asked warily. "I can just… come to your camp? No strings attached? Just help out and I can stay?"

"Sure!" he enthused, though he kept himself quiet.

Taylor nodded, smiling softly. It felt strange on her face; she hadn't smiled in what seemed like a very long time, but it was nice. "I'd like that," she said quietly. "I'd really like that. …Thank you."

Glenn positively beamed at her. "It's no problem," he assured her. "C'mon, I was just heading out. Finished my supply run already."

She nodded again and followed as he headed back out onto the street, staying just a little behind him. Though she was hopeful this wasn't going to turn around and bite her in the ass, she didn't know Glenn well enough to trust him, so walking behind him was safer if he turned on her. It didn't seem likely - he could have just not mentioned his camp at all if he was going to turn on her for some reason, or he could have ran, or killed her already. But Taylor was wary, so she kept behind him and made sure he didn't move to grab his weapon.

The walk out of the city was mostly silent, it being too dangerous to really delve into conversation. When they reached the vehicle parked on the outskirts that apparently belonged to her new companion, Taylor couldn't help but start talking.

"Where'd you get a car? Fuel?" she questioned, a little amazed despite herself. She hadn't seen an actual, working car in a month.

"I kind of stole the car a few weeks ago," Glenn admitted sheepishly as he opened the backseat, throwing his own duffel in. "Got the fuel from some abandoned cars." He gestured for her to place her own duffel in the back and she did so, though she kept her weapons.

"Your camp must be doing pretty well, huh?" Taylor said in reply, hesitantly getting into the passenger seat as Glenn got into the driver's seat. Her hand went to her knife briefly; she didn't like being in a confined space with someone she didn't know, but at least she had a way to protect herself if things went badly.

"Yeah, like I said, we're doing alright." He grinned over at her as he started the car and they drove away. "I mean, it's not perfect or anything, but it's nice."

Taylor nodded in acceptance, prepared to retreat to silence after that exchange. A month and a half alone with barely any human contact had worn away her already rather awkward social skills and she was happy to go back to being silent. Glenn, however, seemed to have other ideas and drew her into another conversation. Through the course of the ride to the camp, they got to know each other a little while Taylor settled back into talking to other people. He pulled her out of her shell a little, managing to get a few more smiles out of her by the time the car came to a stop at the camp.

_Well, _she thought, steeling herself a little as they slowed to a stop. _Here goes nothing._

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_**Reviews are love!**_

_**C x**_


	2. Two

**_Title: _**_Welcome To the New Age  
__**Rating: **__T for language, violence and gore.  
__**Summary: **__"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper." Taylor's left alone at the end of the world and bumps into someone that might be able to help her out. __**  
Warnings:**__ Violence, language, character death, blood and gore, original character (in case that wasn't clear), racial slurs.  
__**Disclaimer:**__ I am in no way affiliated with AMC, The Walking Dead or its cast. I'm just a fan who's playing in the sandbox.  
__**Author's Notes: **__I suppose I should say now that updates will be sporadic. I'll try to update a couple of times a week, but don't hold me to a strict schedule. Sometimes, like today, the words come easily while others I'll spend a week agonising over a chapter. So you probably shouldn't expect daily updates, though I'll try to keep everything pretty frequent! _

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**Two**

**_(Because what's a start without a follow up?)_**

Taylor peered out at the camp curiously, gripping her bow tightly for comfort. There was an RV perched to have the prime view over the camp and the surrounding area near to where Glenn parked. Tents were set up in a vaguely circular shape and there were places for people to sit set up outside. There was a fire pit of sorts in the middle of all this, though no fire was burning at that hour. She could see lines of washing up and stacks of firewood, as well as buckets of water. The most surprising thing, though, was the people.

She had known going into this there were going to be a few people, but there were a lot more than she had expected. Still relatively small, she supposed, but still more than she was expecting to see. The most surprising to her were the two kids, each clinging to who she assumed were their respective mothers. Families, Glenn had said. She hadn't realised that he had meant there were going to be kids in camp.

Glenn got out of the car, calling out to the elderly man perched on top of the old RV as the people of the camp filtered in. Taylor sat in the car nervously, sinking low in her seat so nobody could really see her. Her grip on her bow was so tight her knuckles had turned white and she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. At Glenn's gesturing, she slowly got out of the car, adjusting her quiver automatically as she went.

She could feel the eyes on her as she made her way to the front of the car where Glenn was standing. She smoothed a hand over the wood of her bow again, the feel of it comforting beneath her fingers. She knew there was no chance she could take on all the people in the camp if they turned on her, but the feel of her bow was still comforting to her. Taylor took a fortifying breath and lifted her gaze from her weapon to meet the eyes of the man who was clearly the leader of the group.

"This is Taylor," Glenn said after a moment of awkward silence. "I bumped into her in one of the alleys in Atlanta."

She gave a half wave, accompanied with a smile. "Hi."

The leader – Shane, if she remembered right – smiled back at her. "Hey there," he greeted warmly. "I'm Shane."

Taylor nodded, chancing a glance at the camp at large. What stuck out to her was how… clean they all were. While they weren't exactly spotless, they were nowhere near as bad as she was. Her clothes were covered in an unsettling mix of blood and guts from the corpses she had had to get up close and personal with, and her skin was probably filthier. Her hair was a mess, too, though that was less noticeable thanks to the tight braid she had pulled it into.

She wanted to tug nervously at her clothes, apologise for being so dirty, but instead she straightened her back and schooled her expression into something more neutral. Taylor was good at that; she could act like she was fine, or untouchable, when it suited her. She had the feeling she would need to do that a lot now she was going to be with actual humans.

"Glenn, why don't you show her around?" Shane said, seeming to sense her discomfort despite her act.

"Sure thing," Glenn agreed readily.

Taylor found herself being pulled around camp, getting introduced to everyone. They all seemed friendly enough, though a little wary of the stranger in camp. She could understand that, especially considering her filthy appearance. The only people she wasn't properly introduced to were the two men hovering around the edges of camp together. Glenn pointed them out, telling her they were Daryl and Merle Dixon while claiming they weren't the friendliest pair.

She had spotted one – Daryl – carrying a crossbow, though, and she was pretty interested in his choice of weapon. She had never been a big fan of crossbows because of how long they could take to load, but she liked them a lot better than guns. Guns were noisy and their ammo ran out quickly. She was approving of his choice to use a crossbow and resolved to try and strike up a conversation with him about it later. She wanted to get on well with everyone in camp if she was going to be staying there, regardless of whether they were friendly or not.

When the tour was over she was taken to where everyone had congregated around the fire pit. Taylor braced herself for the inevitable slew of questions and wasn't at all let down. As soon as she had settled down in between Glenn and the sweet blonde, Amy, she had been introduced to earlier, Shane set his gaze on her.

"So, Taylor, what were you doing in Atlanta?" he asked.

"I've been there since things got bad," she admitted honestly. "I couldn't get out of town because of the military, and people kept on coming in in search of the rescue centre. It was pretty much impossible to get out, so I hid until things cooled down a bit. By the time it was safe to try leaving, the place was overrun and, well, there was nowhere for me to go. So I stayed."

"On your own?" Shane pressed, sounding surprised.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, staring at her shoes. "My parents – they, uh, didn't make it." She swallowed past the lump in her throat that rose at the mention of her family. "Neither did my friends. I've been on my own since this all started."

She earned some surprised looks at that, as well as a few scared and respecting ones. She felt uncomfortable with all their attention on her but she ignored that. The more she got out now before clamming up, the fewer questions she would be asked later.

"How'd you survive?" Lori, if she remembered correctly, asked after a moment of silence.

"Hiding, mostly," she answered truthfully. "I stayed in high places, where people couldn't find me or hear me. Or smell me. And I guess I was pretty lucky at the start. When everything started to go bad, really bad, I was at this archery range. I taught there on weekends. I managed to grab my bow and some arrows before looking for my family."

She lapsed into silence, taking a fortifying breath before continuing. "I got to my family but the military, they came pretty quickly afterwards. My mother made me hide, made me promise I'd survive no matter what. So that's what I did. It wasn't my proudest moment, but she made me promise." She clenched her hands into fists, startling a little when Amy placed a hand over her own in a comforting movement, but she made no move to dislodge the girl's hand.

"I went high, found out of the way places where it would be safer. A lot of it was just sheer luck, I guess. I scavenged supplies where I could, and I killed anything already dead that got within range. Found myself a knife early on for close range fights. I kept moving, never stayed in one place more than a few days, and I stayed off the ground as much as possible."

She smiled waveringly over at Shane. "So, that's me. What about you guys?"

After that, everyone seemed to ease up a little around her and shared their own tales of survival. Taylor relaxed herself a little, too. It was nice to be around people, and they seemed to accept her easily into their group. She got on surprisingly well with Amy. They were pretty much polar opposites, but they were around the same age and her sweet, friendly nature was the perfect contrast to Taylor's own blunt roughness.

Dale, the elderly man who seemed to like keeping watch, offered her a spot in the RV and she took it readily. The RV was bound to be better than a tent, and anything was a damned sight better than a rooftop. Taylor took her things into the RV and Lori was nice enough to take her down to the quarry so she could clean up a little bit.

Feeling refreshed after her wash, she and Lori returned to camp where Shane called her over. After shooting an unsure glance at the older woman, who nodded, Taylor headed over to the leader of the group. She slowed to a stop before him and offered a smile.

"What can I do for you, Shane?" she said, forcing some lightness into her tone.

"Glenn mentioned while you were with Lori that you seem pretty handy with that bow," he stated, looking at her with a friendly expression.

Taylor nodded, adjusting the strap of her quiver, where her bow was currently stationed. "Yeah. I'm a pretty good shot, I guess. I mean, I'd have to be handy with a bow to be able to teach kids archery, right?"

Shane nodded, a small smile on his face. "Right," he agreed. "Any good with any other weapons?"

She shrugged a little, tapping the handle of her knife. "I'm solid with a knife."

"What about guns?" Shane pressed.

Taylor frowned, biting her lip. "Not sure," she admitted. "I've never used one, but my aim's good enough for my bow so I guess I'd be okay with a gun if I knew my way around it. But I don't like guns." At his questioning look, she sighed and added, "Guns are loud so they attract the attention of the – Walkers? That's what you guys call them, right? Yeah, they attract the Walkers, so I wouldn't like using them, but hey. Beggars can't be choosers."

Shane nodded again before letting her go. At a loss of what to do with herself, Taylor decided she'd go talk to Dale a little more. The old man seemed sweet, and pretty smart, and he was high up. She liked being high up after spending so long on rooftops, so she could picture herself spending her free time with Dale on top of the RV pretty easily.

She clambered up the leader leading to the top of the RV, smiling waveringly at the older man. Dale smiled back kindly as he lowered his binoculars, turning slightly to face her better.

"Hi, Taylor," he greeted. "What brings you up here?"

Taylor tugged on the clean shirt Lori had loaned her, giving a little shrug. "This is the highest place in camp," she admitted with a sheepish smile. "I'm not really used to being on the ground much. I like being high up after spending so much time on rooftops in Atlanta."

Dale nodded, smile still in place as he gestured for her to sit. "Mind keeping watch if you're going to be up here, then? I could use the chance to stretch my legs."

She shrugged again but took the offered binoculars, settling down on the lawn chair Dale had set up. "Go stretch," she called as the older man climbed down to the ground, grinning a little to herself as she heard his laughter. She lounged back in the chair, bringing the binoculars up to peer around the area surrounding the camp.

A few hours slipped by as she kept watch, alternating between scouring the quarry and forests and talking to anyone who struck up a conversation with her. Everyone seemed to want to get to know her better still, but they were respecting her wanting to keep to herself for a little while. Taylor had gone from being utterly alone to being surrounded by people, and the transition wasn't an easy one. But she was adjusting, just like she always did.

Taylor guessed, looking back on it, that she was lucky that she could always adapt to a situation quickly. She didn't like dwelling on the past, not even the good times much, and that meant she found it easy to soldier on and adjust accordingly. When the outbreak first hit, she had been one of the first to get used to the way the world was then. It was probably one of the things that had kept her alive.

When the light was starting to fade, Dale insisted he take over keeping watch. Reluctantly, Taylor handed over the binoculars and returned to the ground, almost immediately itching to get back up high. She heaved a sigh before making her way to the outskirts of camp. Glenn hadn't taken her there earlier, claiming that it was where the Dixon's were holed up and as such it wasn't a desirable place to go. She didn't care much about that; she wanted to know the layout of camp in case something happened.

She ambled past the smaller fire pit she assumed the Dixon's used, skirted around their tent and went looking in the fringes of the forest. She got her bow out in case a potential meal went scurrying past – or something a little less friendly. Taylor didn't delve too deep into the trees for now, instead just scouting out the area. She found a tall tree quite close to the Dixon's tent and after a moment's debate, climbed up. When she was around half way up the tree, perched happily on a branch, she surveyed her bow.

She had been considering carving patterns into the wood for a while but Taylor had never really had the free time. Now, at the camp, she could see herself easily snatching an hour or two to pay attention to her bow. Deciding she had nothing else to do – the camp seemed a little unwilling to pile on the chores at the moment – she pulled out her knife and started carving.

Around twenty minutes went by spent engrossed in carving, though she only managed to carve a small part of the wood. She wanted to take her time to make sure it was perfect and besides, the longer she took the more time it would take up. She only stopped when she started at a sound coming from the forest, fumbling and dropping her knife as she shifted to get a better look.

Taylor cursed under her breath, realising it was only a squirrel scampering by. She carefully rested her bow up against the thick trunk of the tree and firmly wrapped her legs around the branch, gripping the rough bark with her hands as she swung so she was upside down. After a moment, she dropped her hands and swung down a little, so she was close to the ground, and immediately began scouring the earth for her knife.

"Jesus fuckin' Chris'!" someone snapped from nearby.

Taylor blinked, raising her eyes from the ground to peer at the upside down form of Daryl Dixon. She waved awkwardly, swaying a little with the movement. "Er, hi."

"The fuck ya doin'?" he demanded roughly, scowling at her.

She attempted a shrug but found the movement difficult in her position. She returned her eyes to the floor, grinning to herself when she spotted her knife. "Looking for my knife," she replied absently, stretching out a hand to grasp it.

"Why were ya in a tree?" he snarled out.

Huffing out a breath, Taylor spread her fingers wide in an attempt to get her knife, with little success. "I was carving my bow."

"In a _tree_?" Daryl said, sounding sceptical.

She tried to shrug again, blinking as the blood started to flood to her head. "I like being high up," she said simply before huffing out another breath. She pulled herself back up to the branch, clambering back so she was sitting on top of it. She grabbed her bow and put it in her quiver before jumping lightly from the tree. Landing in a crouch, she scooped up her knife before straightening out.

She turned to face him, offering a smile. "You're Daryl, right?" At his nod, she added, "I'm Taylor."

"I know tha'," he shot back almost instantly. "Everyone in camp's takin' 'bout ya."

She nodded a little, returning her knife to its customary position. "Can't say I'm surprised," she stated cheerfully, wandering past Daryl as she spoke. She was aware of his eyes on her as she continued on. "I'd probably be a bit more worried if I wasn't talk of the camp, having arrived out of nowhere and all." She shot a smile over her shoulder him.

"Why was ya over here?" Daryl asked, voice as rough as over.

"Just taking a look around," she said, shrugging properly. "Glenn didn't bring me over here on my, uh, tour, so I thought I'd come check it out."

"Well, don' come round here again, alrigh'?" he instructed irritably.

Taylor spun around, jutting out her hip and planting her hand on it. She tilted her head to the side, surveying the man before her curiously. He seemed a rough sort – he was dirtier than the rest of the camp, and his general manner seemed gruff. Glenn had quietly confided, earlier, that a lot of the camp members were scared of the Dixon brothers, but she wasn't. She had spent a month and a half in Atlanta, surrounded by Walkers, and before that had had no problem taking care of herself. She was confident she could handle the pair of redneck brothers.

"I make no promises," she replied lightly after a pause. "I'm prone to wandering." Before he could voice another complaint, she flashed a smile at him. "It was nice meeting you, Daryl!" With that, she turned on her heel and headed back into the main camp. "See ya," she called over her shoulder, grinning cheekily at him before getting dragged into a conversation with Amy.

And if Daryl glared at her through the night when everyone gathered to eat, well, she wasn't going to say anything.

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**_I'd really like to know if you think I'm keeping people in character; I struggle with that sometimes, so some feedback on that would be nice. I know Taylor's personality is sort of fluctuating at the moment, but that's mostly because she's starting to relax around the campers. She should be settled by the next chapter, I believe. Reviews are love!_**

**_C x_**


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